On-duty SANDF soldier among 59 drunk drivers arrested in KZN weekend crackdown

An on‑duty South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldier was among 59 motorists arrested for drunk driving in KwaZulu‑Natal over the weekend, provincial officials said.

Who was stopped and where

The soldier was arrested on Sunday, May 31 during the execution of the #NenzaniLaEzweni Operation in Ladysmith, the KwaZulu‑Natal Department of Transport said. The arrests were made during roadblocks carried out by the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) working with Operation Shanela.

What the operation found

During the Ladysmith operation, 13 motorists were arrested for drunk driving. Among them was a taxi driver who was found to have a concentration of alcohol in his blood 20 times over the legal limit while carrying passengers.

Across the province, authorities arrested a total of 59 motorists for drunk driving over the weekend.

Official response and wider enforcement

The provincial MEC for Transport and Human Settlements, Siboniso Duma, welcomed the arrests and said the detention of the on‑duty soldier by a “no‑nonsense RTI officer” showed that “nobody is above the law.”

“Importantly, last Friday, we announced the deployment of more than 2,000 highly efficient and no‑nonsense Road Traffic Inspectorate and Operation Shanela teams throughout the corners of the province of KwaZulu‑Natal,” Duma said.

Duma thanked the Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, for deploying South African Police Service members to support the operations.

Ongoing campaign

Authorities said the weekend arrests brought the number of drunk drivers arrested since the beginning of the operation in August last year to 6,345.

Duma also noted that the motorists arrested over the weekend included working professionals such as a SANDF soldier, a taxi driver carrying passengers, a quality surveyor, a nurse, a teacher, a data capturer, an electrician and an HR officer.